Leader McCarthy on the Air: We Need a Stronger and More Prosperous America

Washington, D.C. – House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (CA-23) spoke on several major morning shows to discuss the State of the Union and the House’s work to create a safer and more prosperous America:

CNN’s New Day

On what Leader McCarthy hopes to hear at the State of the Union:

“[The President] says it’s nontraditional. Sounds like it’s going to be more of a campaign speech. I’m really hoping to hear, personally—from a personal level—what is our strategy to defeat ISIS? Where are we about security in this nation? Because when you think about it, from Paris to San Bernardino to Philadelphia now to Istanbul, this is an unsafe world. And it’s not something that we should wait to the next president. We need to have a plan to solve this today.”

On Congress’s bipartisan work to keep America safe:

“You know, just on the floor today before the President speaks, we’ll be voting in a bipartisan manner. You’ll see Democrats and Republicans joining, putting new sanctions on North Korea. Look at what they were now testing—nuclear weapons—just last week. We’ll also have on the floor new sanctions against Iran because of what they’re doing in missile testing. The world is becoming less and less safe. Every morning you see on the news, a new disruption, no matter where it’s at. So I think we have to get together and have a strategy to defeat ISIS and make this world safe.”

On how the Obama economy is hurting the American people:

“If I look at the median household income, it’s lower today than it was in January 2000. So, I don’t know that there’s a lot to trumpet there. It’s only up 1.9 percent from 2009 when it started the movement of this economy. How much do you want to be able to weigh that? There’s 94 million Americans that are out of the work force. So, I don’t think it’s something to trumpet. I think it’s something we can work together on to find economic prosperity, to find an ability to move this economy in a much stronger manner.”

CNBC’s Squawk Box

On Congressional Republicans’ big ideas:

“This weekend right after the State of the Union on Wednesday, all the Republicans in the House and Senate will get together for a conference and a retreat, and we’ll do it for next couple days. We’ll be working on and talking about new big bold ideas for tax reform, health care, welfare reform. Look at the positive disruption that’s happening in the economy, its happening in politics. The idea from a taxi to an Uber. Think about the transformation we could have in government if we had that positive disruption at the same time. Think of what the VA system would look like then. These are the changes that have to be made. You know, we’re living through the Fourth Industrial Revolution that’s happening faster than ever before, but government is way behind. And when we have these, people get greater choice. There’s more accountability and actually government will be smaller and more efficient.”

On what people expect from their government:

People want to see government work. They want to see a solution. That’s why I sit here from one perspective, and I can work with those who want to work. And yeah, you can put a lot of different numbers from unemployment and others, but walk across the country…. There’s so much room for improvement here, and that’s why I don’t think it’s time for a farewell tour. It’s time to actually solve problems.